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Wednesday Works post from guest blogger and professional photographer, Kenny Kim.

Kenny Kim has always been fascinated by the visual arts, especially the connection between art and photography. This passion led him to study graphic design at the University of Illinois where he also became a Web designer. But he eventually realized that the greatest outlet for his artistic expression and technical skills would be through his passion for photography.

With the launch of Kenny Kim Photography in 2006, his vision instantly resonated with his audience, and Kenny Kim Photography very quickly grew into a nationally recognized studio. Kenny has captured over 150+ weddings in locations throughout the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and in Italy.

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I recently got back from a trip to The Big Apple. While wandering through the familiar streets of New York City, riding through their elaborate subway trains and walking through the familiar halls of airports, I couldn’t help but to notice something that all these difference places had in common: Almost everyone was looking down at their smart phones! Without glancing at their screens, I could probably guess that the majority of them were either on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and/or another form of a social media application. It was a good reminder to me that we are now living in the social media era. Use of mobile technology has transitioned from an option to a necessity. It has become the main channel for communication, news, advertising and even building relationships.

When I got into the wedding photography industry nine years ago, social media was just starting to scratch its surface. I recall talking to many of my colleagues who were on the fence about joining the social media bandwagon at that time. Even just a few years ago, during my classes and workshops, I informed everyone about how having social media was a nice addition to incorporate into your business. Times have now changed and my message has evolved. It is now ESSENTIAL to integrate social media into your business.

As a destination-wedding photographer, social media has played an integral part of my business in helping me get the ideal clients. Aside from traditional referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations, it is now the biggest form of marketing for my studio. The best way to define marketing is that you need to go fish where the fish are. Most of the brides are using their smart phones to plan their weddings. They spend time looking at Pinterest and wedding style blogs for inspirations/ideas. They are viewing and sharing photos on Facebook and Instagram. Social media is now the ocean where your clients are swimming in. This is where you want to go fishing.

Kodak Alaris has always been the leader in the photography industry. They also recognize the importance of social media as one of the essential steps in sharing and preserving the images we capture for our clients. I am thankful that they have given me the platform to share this message at WPPI Conference in Las Vegas next week. Please join me on March 1st for my Master Class about Destination Weddings. Then on March 2 & 3rd , I will be at the Kodak Alaris booth from 11am to 12pm, where I will dive more in depth about this topic and share some practical social media tips with everyone. Can’t wait to see you there!

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What a great time of year to be a wedding photographer: tradeshow season. Wedding photographers are incredibly busy people, so we pretty much have just a few winter months to rest, recuperate and educate ourselves. Every year I make the trip out to Las Vegas Nevada for the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International Expo. Vegas is just about the most unlikely place you would find me otherwise, but this conference is the “gold standard” in wedding photography education. I owe much of my growth and development to the education I have found at this one conference.

This year I have the privilege of my name being listed next to many of the world’s finest photography instructors and I also have the responsibility of offering the first presentation on same-sex weddings at this show. Yes, 10 years after marriage equality began it’s journey across the nation, we are on the brink of a Supreme Court ruling which could bring legally recognized same-sex weddings nationwide. So it is mighty time that us professional photographers start talking about how we can best serve the fastest growing, emerging market in weddings.

In my 15 years as a professional photographer, I’ve photographed more than 200 weddings, so you could say that I’ve gotten pretty comfortable working as a wedding photographer. I have an established routine to meet and exceed my clients’ expectations, and I’m able to offer guidance, based on my extensive experience, to better create beautiful and lasting wedding photographs for them. But in 2005 I photographed my first same-sex couple’s wedding and realized that although I had plenty of professional experience to lean on, in many respects I felt like a beginner.

That first gay wedding represented many firsts for me. In fact, it was the first same-sex wedding I’d ever attended. It was the first wedding I’d ever photographed where neither member of the couple was wearing a wedding gown. And it was the first wedding where the ceremony kiss turned out to be the first time this couple had ever kissed in front of their families.

This couple was fantastic, two beautiful people who truly and deeply loved one another, but capturing their love on camera was challenging. My “regular bag of tricks” was no help when I tried to convey the level of intimacy I usually capture at a wedding. Even simply posing this couple, because they were so similar in height and weight and couldn’t physically dip or lift each other, made the “standard” images difficult.

Flash-forward to today, and I’ve learned a lot, namely that love is love and that gay and lesbian weddings have a lot in common with straight weddings. However, there are some key differences that a photographer must understand, and I wanted to do something more to share my experience with other photographers.

Valentine’s Day comes just in the nick of time for me. Winter is starting to drag on with snow and endless cold. Right when I’m ready to throw in the towel, Valentine’s Day arrives with hearts and pinks and reds and chocolate.

We have some really cute projects in the Tips and Project Center where you can use photos to make Valentine’s Day gifts and decorations.

A photo can brighten up the usual little bag of candy for the classroom exchange. The mini-prints at Kodak Picture Kiosk are perfect for this because you can print two photos on one 4×6 and fold it over the treat bag, then staple. You could even rotate the top image so it is right side up when you fold, but I didn’t think of that when I was making this sample. (Live and learn)

This heart photo bookmark is not only easy to make but it’s quite useful too. Who wouldn’t like to see their favorite little face everytime they crack their novel open?

Save a few of those candy hearts and add them to a shadow box for a seasonal display.

You could make this as a gift or for yourself. Match a map of your hometown, next to a map of your sweetie’s hometown and cut into a heart shape. Mount it in a frame with a heart shaped photo of the lovebirds on top. It’s putting your love on the map!

Create a 3D effect by mounting photos cut out as hearts on a blank matt with mounting tape so they “pop” out.

Place glass over a favorite photo in a frame and you can fill-in-the-blank with a white board marker and update it as the mood strikes you.

“Film allows me to book more and spend less time at my desk!” – Elisa Bricker

Elisa Bricker

Most photographers I know didn’t get into our field because they love spending time in the office. When I talk with other photographers, they share their love of people and stories, of documenting and sharing their work – not their love of editing! I share my love of film because I want more photographers to know how inviting the process is. I want to share how I was able to leave my desk to shoot more, without needing to reinvent my business.

When I started photographing my clients using a digital camera, it was easy to over commit. My workweek was a mix of business tasks and hours spent at my desk culling and editing digital images. I loved the work I was doing, but I needed a better process, and I wanted to spend more time doing the work that really mattered to me – shooting!

Film photography is an invitation to create with your subject. It’s an opportunity for thoughtful and intentional creativity, and it’s a way to streamline your workflow. The move back to film was an obvious one for me. It allowed me to book more work because I was spending less time at my desk. It freed my schedule for more personal projects, and simplified my week – meaning I had more time and energy for my clients and our work together.

To start 2015 we have an exciting opportunity to share our work, our lives and our love of film. We’ll be at Imaging USA, in the Kodak Alaris booth (#726). I’ll be in the booth twice: once on Sunday, February 1 at 2 pm and again on Monday afternoon at 1 pm. I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

If you can’t make it to the Kodak Alaris booth, then Edward and I (my husband and owner of Contax Rental www.contaxrental.com) are teaching a workshop in France.

This workshop is designed specifically for film photographers because we recognize both the allure of film photography and how intimidating it can be to try shooting on film without training. Learning film on your own can be a tedious and frustrating experience. Learning to use film with others is a liberating one.

Statistics show that just 8% of the people who make New Year’s resolutions achieve them. 40% of Americans make resolutions, but keeping them is the challenge. Here are some ways that photos can help you keep your resolutions, as visual reminders and more.

Create a photo calendar for 2015 and each month feature a photo of the goal you want to meet as a reminder and inspiration. Want to run a marathon? Use a photo of yourself running a race from the past year. Trying to cook at home more? Use a picture of a great meal you cooked in the past year.

Trying to remember all the birthdays of friends and family this year? Even if it is just to send them a card or call them, a birthday calendar can help. Each month, use photos of people who have a birthday in that month as a reminder. It’s easy to make photo calendars at Kodak Picture Kiosk. Find one near you.

Have you been promising yourself to do something with all the pictures you take? Don’t let them be forgotten on your computer hard drive or phone camera roll. Make a family yearbook (aka photo book) with your photos from the past year. Then make one each year after that. You can make photo books right on your tablet with the Kodak Moments HD app, download here.

Planning to stay in touch with friends and family in the coming year is a great resolution. Photo cards make it easy to send a quick message with a picture that will make them smile and let them know you are thinking of them. You can make photo cards right on your phone using the My Kodak Moments app – download it here.

Getting organized is probably one of the biggest New Year’s resolutions out there. If you have a box of prints that you have been meaning to do something with, the Kodak Rapid Print Scanner can help. You can digitize your prints, even memorabilia and art work, at a Kodak Picture Kiosk with a Rapid Print Scanner. Find a Kodak Picture Kiosk with a Kodak Rapid Print Scanner using this store locator.

Photography was and still is “magical”. Running a business was, is and always will be a challenge. The rewards are both personal and professional, and often extraordinary for those who are serious and diligent.

The digital revolution took its toll on many of us and many studios could not survive because they didn’t adapt quickly enough. I began experimenting with digital a full decade before it really hit our profession even though I was told that digital would never be good enough for anything serious. It was so expensive! Because I wanted my business to have a future, I was willing to work, experiment and invest. Still, there are things I don’t love about digital, but it is the language of our industry, and for the most part, we must accept it.

I say this as a film lover – understanding that many reading this may have never known the excitement and wonder of what can be created on film.

If you’re in Photography now, you’re likely shooting digital and 97% likely to be using a lab to print your orders. This has been one of the industry’s biggest changes and challenges in the last twenty years.

While most don’t print themselves, it’s imperative that the digital photographer understand profiles, color space, and the importance of calibration to produce a decent file for the lab to print. Serious photographers need to stay current with the latest techniques for shooting and handling image files so that we get the best images possible from digital capture. ‘

I’ve been a Kodak Mentor for more than twenty-five years and I’ve witnessed the positive effect that companies who train and educate can have. Largely speaking, our vendors want you to succeed and Kodak Alaris is providing products and software systems that help you get the most for your clients and from your lab. Take advantage of the support they have to offer.

Being the photographer is just one of the hats you wear. If you own your business, a lot more responsibility comes your way and good business practices and policies are just the start. You’ll need to work towards mastering sales and marketing too, another necessary cog in the machine. You’ll need to be the visionary for your company, bringing in new products and services, motivating clients and employees.

I’ve always felt there is a balance between what needs to be done now, and what I want to do next. Everyone’s list is different, but real growth comes from the extra hours you put in –proof of the passion that you have for your craft. I hope that if your camera work needs improving, or your retouching skills need work, you’ll put that ahead of buying new studio lights. If your studio lighting or posing could be better, you won’t jump into digital painting just yet. I also hope that you go above and beyond for your clients, always bringing them your very best work. Bring new services and products forward once they are fully tested – once you’ve proven that they work – and when you have your pricing, delivery, and all your other ducks in a row. It’s good for you and good for our industry.

This is a fantastic business, as individual and unique as you want it to be. Take the time to develop as an artist and as a businessperson. Change is constant, adaptability is a must and enthusiasm is the fuel! Photography is equal parts art and science and disregarding either is a mistake.

As a Professional Photographer, I’m always looking for new ideas, things to get excited about, and that’s why I’ve started producing large format film portraits again. This format challenges me, and revisiting film, large format film in particular reminds me why I’m in this business. Learning and growing helps sharpen my skills so I can continue to offer new and fresh ideas to my clients.

In fact, I’d love to get your feedback, meet you and talk about the future of film and digital capture. I’ll be making a special appearance at PPA’s ImagingUSA 2015 in Nashville, and Amherst Publishing will be releasing my new book on B&W portraiture there. I’ll also be sharing ideas from my new book at the Kodak Alaris booth #726.